The present invention relates to an article of manufacture and method for reducing facial wrinkles, particularly wrinkles which form on the face or forehead of a person during sleep as a result of oblique compression of the facial skin contacting the bed or pillow (bedding) when the person is sleeping.
Human skin forms planar discontinuities, commonly-called wrinkles, as the person ages. Much effort and cost have been expended in attempts to prevent wrinkle-formation and/or to reduce the severity of already-formed wrinkles. These efforts have taken a variety of forms, including formulation of medicants, such as specialty creams, salves, or lotions; and other treatments, such as vapor treatments, mud packs, massage exercises, and even invasive electric, injectable, or surgical procedures which have been developed and used.
Even when age-caused wrinkles can be temporarily reduced, a particular type of wrinkle has eluded effective treatment—that is, wrinkles that form during sleep due to compression of the facial skin against bedding, such as a pillow or mattress. These are referred to herein as “sleep lines,” a term which is readily understood in the art of dermatological treatments as presenting an entirely different type of wrinkle due to its cause from actual contact and compression of the face against a pillow or bedding during sleep.
Previous facial treatments, including wrinkle treatments include, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,3225, which describes a figure contouring mask having an absorbent surface to retain a figure contouring lotion in contact with the chin and the upper portion of the neck and held tightly in place by elastic head bands and elastic neck bands. However, this contouring mask does not cover the forehead where sleep lines are prevalently formed, nor does it provide inner and outer surfaces having different friction coefficients useful for preventing sleep line formation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,741, which provides a method and appliance for reducing facial wrinkles by tightly applying to wrinkle-prone areas of the human face a pressure-sensitive adhesive appliance in such a manner that the skin under the appliance is placed in a flattened and smoothed configuration. The appliance remains in place for at least four hours and then is removed in a manner to strip dead skin cells from the skin. The adhesive can cause discomfort during sleep and when removed.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,116,675 and 5,582,585 teach devices directed to a disposable adhesive neck and facial wrinkle gathering device which includes a central elastic portion and opposingly extending non-elastic adhesive strips connected at each end thereof, and an improved disposable form of the device. According to the inventor, because of the nonexpandable nature of the adhesive strips, the device described in the '675 patent is uncomfortable to wear during long periods of use, such as during sleep. The device described in the '585 describes a disposable device which includes an elongated fully elastic main strip formed of flexible non-woven hypoallergenic elastic tape which, when positioned, stretches and flattens wrinkles. These devices do not completely encircle the face or forehead and are not useful to prevent sleep lines.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,632,217 describes a face exercising device comprising: a stretchable mask having a central aperture for a wearer's face; two connectable top straps connectable behind the wearer's head for securing the top to the wearer's forehead; two connectable bottom straps for attaching the mask to the wearer's chin; and a top strap affixed to the top of the mask for attaching to the back of the wearer's head. This device does not provide coverage of the forehead area and is not conducive to be worn during sleep to reduce sleep lines.
The present invention is based on the discovery of a method and device for use therewith which can minimize the wrinkling effects (sleep lines) caused by compression of the facial skin against bedding during sleep.